


Lighter

by StAnni



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-01
Updated: 2019-02-01
Packaged: 2019-10-20 10:56:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17621171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StAnni/pseuds/StAnni
Summary: The wedding, as far as weddings go, was pretty standard.  Derek doesn’t know the girl well but Scott seems happy and he only came because there was the off chance that Stiles and Scott had mended fences, which they did, and Stiles would be invited too, which he was.





	Lighter

At the reception Derek sees Stiles slip through the high glass doors – stealing outside for a cigarette no doubt. He follows a little while after and watches as the flame from his lighter illuminate Stiles’ face for split second – before he pushes the lighter back in his pocket in a gesture that is more habit than anything else and takes a deep drag of the lit cigarette – exhaling a plume of smoke. Derek realizes that the last time they saw each other Stiles had promised him, just the day before, that he was going to quit. That was four years ago.  
“You going to just stand there and be weird?” Stiles asks without turning to him and Derek takes a step forward, shaking his head – genuinely amused already “How do you do that?”  
Stiles glances at him in the dark, his eyes older, guarded “You wear way too much cologne, man.”

The wedding, as far as weddings go, was pretty standard. Derek doesn’t know the girl well but Scott seems happy and he only came because there was the off chance that Stiles and Scott had mended fences, which they did, and Stiles would be invited too, which he was.

As if Stiles is reading his mind he asks, lightly, as he flicks the ash from his cigarette into the chilly night air “Is Claire alright?” Claire, Scott’s wife of two hours. Derek shrugs and answers honestly “I’ve spoken to her like twice.” And to that Stiles riffs, easily, even smiling a bit “Pretty intimate for you.”

The last time that Derek saw Stiles, or at least the day before the last time that Derek saw Stiles, Stile had promised Derek – while lighting up next to him in their bedroom, that he would quit smoking. That the cigarette he was lighting, was his last one. Stiles looks slightly different now, maybe a little more streamlined, a little simplified – as if he’s hunkered down, steeled himself. Derek wonders if he looks different. He certainly feels different – a little emptier, but lighter too – less anchored. It’s not always a bad thing.

Stiles rolls on his heels, like he does when he’s getting cold. It is so Stiles that seeing it after all this time sends a painful jolt through Derek’s chest. “Did you have to fly in?” Derek asks, knowing how much Stiles hates to travel by air. Stiles seems to think before he answers – probably not wanting to let on where he moved to. “I drove up.” He says and it narrows it down to nothing – Stiles loves to drive, he would drive for days on end without a complaint. “You fly in from Seattle?” Stiles asks and Derek nods. He is still staying in the apartment that used to be their apartment before it became his apartment. 

“I wish Lydia was here.” Stiles says. It’s apropos of nothing and, like every time someone mentions her name, the air gets dark and heavy. “Yeah.” Derek says, because it is all he can say. It is all anyone can say. “I thought…for sure…if she heard about a wedding…” Derek thought so too. Scott admitted that he thought so too. But only Stiles would have the guts to actually believe it, to hope.

The last time that Derek saw Stiles, the last day, a Sunday, was the two year to the day of the last time that anyone saw Lydia. It was a sombre, hard day to begin with and now Derek couldn’t think about that day, his mind would go right up to the morning before, Stiles’ smirk as he wakes up, the feel of Stiles against him, the heat from the bed and the heat from the window. The day after, the last day – Derek couldn’t think about that day anymore.

“Are you staying over?” He asks, just to force another thought into his head. The cigarette is two thirds through. Time is forever and time is fleeting. Stiles flicks the ash again and this time looks at Derek – eyes unreadable. “No I’m probably driving back.” He answers, voice even. Derek doesn’t even know why he asked the question, he’s not staying over. He has a flight back to Seattle in three hours. 

A silence settles that is uncomfortable and bleak. Stiles inclines his head to the door. “I should go in.” He puts his hands in his pockets, a tell of agitation and Derek nods, gives a short smile. “Yeah, me too.”


End file.
